Battery of charges in this law suit

Robert Bruss, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, February 5, 1995

Grand Auto, a chain of automobile supply stores, sold batteries and received old batteries as trade-ins. The old batteries were sold to Morris, who reclaimed the lead and then disposed of the contaminated battery casings on vacant land owned by a railroad.

The railroad sold the land to San Francisco-based Catellus, which sued Grand Auto for costs of cleaning up the contaminated land. Grand Auto argued it has no liability because Morris actually disposed of the hazardous batteries.

If you were the judge:

Would you hold Grand Auto liable for cleanup costs although Morris was the person who disposed of the contaminated batteries?

When one party arranges for a second party to dispose of hazardous materials, the judge said, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) the landowner can recover cleanup costs.

If the rule were otherwise, the judge emphasized, hazardous waste liability could be avoided by selling dangerous materials to an unresponsive party. Therefore, Grand Auto is responsible for the cleanup costs, the judge ruled.

Based on the 1994 U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Catellus Development Corp. vs. U.S., 34 Fed.3d 748.&lt;